Transfer mechanism for looms



A. E. STAFFORD.

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS APPLICATION FILED FEB 24, 1920.

1,427,42 1 Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

lnvenTor. AiFred ESTQFFQTC! Aflys.

-T0 all whom it may concern:

ALFRED n. s'rnrroni),'or nornnnnn, massacnnsnrrs, ASSIGNOR TO nnarnnooaronarrow, or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, a oonrona'rrolv or MAINE.

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR LOOIVJI S.

m dic t n of L nt, Patented Aug. 2a, 1922.

Application filed Feblalarv 24, 1920. Serial No. 360,592.

Be it known that'I, ALF ED E. STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States, and'resident of Hopedale, county of Vvorcester, State'of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Transfer Mechanisms for Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates toimprovements in transferring mechanisms for automatic fill ing replenishing looms and the object thereof is to provide means for permitting the transferrer to yield when an abnormal obstruction is encounteredbythe transferrer arm or head. y

In the operation of looms the shuttle occasionally becomes misplaced in the shuttle boX, either by rebounding from the picker stick or bybeing arrested before it has reached its proper seat in the shuttle box.

When the shuttle is thus misplaced at the time the transfer is called for, the transferrer strikes vigorously against the shuttle, the force being sufficient at times to smash the shuttleor to break the transferrer' arm,

or occasionally to break the hopper stand.

The object of thepresent invention is to provide means for preventing accidents of this character by introducing a yielding instrumentality into the means for actuating the transferrer,said resilient means being of suiiicient strength to enable the transferrer properlyto transfer the filling carrier from the hopper into the shuttle with certainty, but which will yield when anyabnormal obstruction isencountered.

Another object of the invention is to pro I vide means whereby the force of the resilient instrumentality may beadjusted.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annex'ed claims.

A preferred embodimentof theinvention is disclosed herein as applied tothe transferring mechanism 'of an automatic filling" replenishing 100111 'of the well known Northrop type, a sufficient portion of the loom being shown to identify the novel transferring mechanisms therewith.

In the drawings: a 1 -1 l vatien, p r y 1 cro se tion, of so much of an automatic'filling replenishlng loom of the Northrop type as is necessary to a disclosure of the present in- The present invention, which involves the introduction of means which will permit the transferrer to yieldwhen an abnormal obstruction is encountered, is illustrated herein as applied to the well known Northrop type of loom whiclrcomprises a frame or -loomside 1, to one'end of'which is secured. a hopper stand 2, upon'which is mounted a rotary hopper 3 having peripheral recesses t which support the fresh filling carriers 5 which are to be introduced in the shuttle.

The lay 6 is of the usual construction and is'provided with-a shuttle race and shuttle box'to receive the shuttle 7 which is actu-- ated by the usual picker mechanism. The

lay 6is provided at the trans'ferrer end of the loom with an opening through which the old filling carrier may be discharged when a new filling carrier is introduced in the shuttle;

A transferrer 8 is pivotally mounted upon atransferrer stud 9 which extendslaterally from the hopper stand and is provided at one end with a head 10 preferably havin a curved face adapted to engage the fresh ."lling carrier and thrust the same. from the hopper into the shuttle upon call fortransfer. a

In the usual transferring mechanism the transferrer comprises a bell. crank lever having one arm provided with a head to engage the'filling carrler and, another arm extendmg substantially at right angles to it to which is pivoted a dog which, upon call for transfer, is raised in the path of a hunter .uponthe lay so that as the lay beats up, the

transferreris rocked about its pivot causing the head to be forced downward in such a manner as to thrust a properly positioned tle, at the same time expellingthe old filling carrier from the shuttle. If at the time the -transferrer is thus operated, the shuttle is presented, a smash is likely to occur since the transferrer is of rigid construction and is actuated by the movement of the rigid hunter upon the lay.

, The present invention contemplates the in troduction of yielding means intermediate of the transferrer and its actuating means which, while of su'ilicient strength to insure the proper operation of the transferrer, will permit the transferrer to yield when an abnormal obstruction is encountered and ther by avoid breakage of the transfer arm which some times occurs, or breakage of the hopper stand itself which has been known to occur from such causes in a few instances.

Any yielding mechanism for accomplishing this purpose may he introduced within the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the preferred mechanism which is disol'osed herein the transferrer 8, instead of having a rigid actuating arm, is provided with an arm having a bifurcated end provided with laterally extending integral membes 11 and 12 which are connected by an integral bridge 13. The member 12 may also desirably be provided with a boss 14lproviding a seat for an adjusting screw 15 which may he clamped in adjusted positionby a set nut 16. in this construction the hub of the transferrer, instead of being mounted directly upon the stud 9, is in the form of a sleeve 17 integral with the arm 8 and .of sutlicient size to enclose and fit upon the reduced portion 18 of the hub of an actuating arm 19 which is pivotally mounted upon the transferrer stud 9.

The arm 19 is provided with a laterally extending lug 20 which projects into recess 21 of the bifurcated actuating arm of the transferrer. The lug 20 is provided with a central stud 22 which extends within the'coil of thehelical spring 23. one end of which is seated upon the stud 22 and theother end of which abuts against the flatend of the adjusting screw 15 which preferably has a lug 24 also projecting into the coil of the spring 523. The helical. spring 23 is assembled in the construction under suliicient compression to hold the lug 20 of the actuating arm 19 firmly against the member 11 of the transferrer so that the actuating arm 19 will be permitted to yield only when the transferrer encounters a substantially nonyielding obstruction.

The actuating arm 19 is provided withthe usual bifurcated end 25 upon which the dog 26 is pivoted. Any usual controlling mechanism may be employed for raising the dog 26 into the path of the hunter 27 which is carried by the lay upon call for transfer, but as such coi'itrolling mechanism is well known it is not illustrated herein.

In the normal operation of the loom the transfer-rel operates in the :usual manner, the dog'26 being raised into thepath of the hunter upon call for transfer, the engagement of the hunter rocking the actuating arm 19 and transferrcr 8 about the axis of the transferrer stud 9 so that the head 10 engages the base of a fresh filling carrier and thrusts it into the shuttle, the entering filling carrier displacing the old filling carrier from the shuttle and taking its place.

or damage to the transfer-rel" or to its support.

The adjusting screws 15 may e so adjusted as to impose any desired degree of compression upon the spring 23 and when adjusted may be locked in the desired position by the set nut 16. e

It will he understood that the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is illustrative and not restrictiye'and that the in vention may be employed in other types of looms, and that various changes in construction, size and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a transferrer, means operable by the movementof the lay to positively actuate the same including a compression spring acting to permit said transferrer to yield upon encountering an abnormal 0hstruction. i

2. An automatic filling replenishing loom compri ing a pivot-ally mounted transferrer, transferrer actuating means operable by-the movement of the lay and a compression spring interposed between said actuating means and said transferrer acting to permit said transferrer to yield upon encountering an abnormal obstruction.

3. An automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a pivotally mounted trausferrer,

transferrer actuating means operable by the movement of the lay and a compression spring interposed between said actuating means and said transferrer acting to permit said transfcrrcr to yield upon encountering an abnormal obstruction and means for ad justing the compression of said spring.

a. An automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a hopper stand and hopper, a

transfe'rrer stud on said hopper stand, a transferrer pivotally mounted upon said transferrer stud, a transferrer actuating arm pivotally mounted on said transferrer stud, means for oscillating said transferrer actuating arm and resilient means interposed between said? actuating arm. and said transmeans for oscillating said transferrer actu-c ating arm, a compression spring interposed. between said transferrer actuating arm and said transferrer acting to permit said transferrer to yield upon encountering an abnormal obstruction and means for adjusting the compression of said spring.

6. An automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a hopper stand and hopper, a transferrer stud upon said hopper stand, a transferrer in the form of a bell crank lever pivotally mounted upon said stud, one arm of said transferrer having a head to engage the filling carrier, the other arm of said transferrer' being bifurcated, a transferrer actuating arm having means located Within the bifurcation of said transferrer arm, and

resilient means interposed between said 210- tuating arm and one of the members of said bifurcated transferrer arm acting normally to retain said actuating arm against the other member of the bifurcated arm of the transferrer, but. adaptedto yield when the head of the transferrer engages an abnormal obstruction.

7. An automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a hopper stand and hopper, a transferrer stud on said hopper stand, a transferrer in the form of a bell crank lever pivotally mounted upon said stud, one armof said transferrer having a head to engage the filling carrier, the other arm beingbifurcated and provided with a yoke overlying said bifurcation, an actuating'arm pivotally mounted on said stud having a lug extending into said bifurcation, a helical spring interposed between one member of the bifurcated arm of said' transferrer and said lug and means for adjusting the compression of said spring.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

Y ALFRED E. STAFFORD. 

